THE BARRHEAD DAMS SUCCESS STORY 
- by Frank Gibbons

Most of us heard about the Barrhead Dams fish rescue only after it was over, so quickly did the crisis arise, and so quickly did some dedicated coarse anglers rise to the challenge. Frank Gibbons , Pike Anglers Club Joint Regional Organiser, was on hand to get stuck in (literally) and tells the tale of a very special conservation effort.

Glasgow & West of Scotland Regional Association No 53 (RA53) of the Pike Anglers Club of Great Britain spends a great deal of time throughout each year addressing pike conservation issues arising within Scotland. Looking back, 1995 was no exception. Together with the St Winnoch Angling Club, RA53, through hard work, perseverance and determination, turned a potentially disastrous situation around to achieve a rare success in coarse angling conservation in the 'Barrhead Dam Success'.

The story began with Strathclyde Regional Council's decision to drain Barrhead Dams completely in order to carry out maintenance and repair work to the valve tower. Club members, although aware that the water level was being dropped, were unprepared for the crisis when the full implications of the maintenance work was realised. In summary, Barrhead Dams contained a number of good pike and being situated in 'apache territory' it was traditionally fished in the colder months and avoided in summer.

A 14 day race against the plummeting water levels ensued and soaring temperatures in the west of Scotland during the period placed additional urgency on the project. The largest water, Balgray Dam, was the main focus of our attention - although everyone was aware that one of the smaller dams being drained into Balgray contained large numbers of fish also.

Attempting to keep the highs and lows as concise as possible - we arrived on the first night, 16 June, to find the water levels low however we were still faced with a large expanse of water 14-16ft deep, snag ridden in places and heavy with thick silt around its margins. Davie (of Hooked on Skateland fame) Holt, stitched two sweep nets together, repaired a few holes and added lead line to give us 80 yards of sweep net. RA53 and St Winnoch AC members attached floats, prepared small craft and organised transportation. A steep climb down the once submerged walls of the dam and into the silt - everyone straining with the weight of the net - was to become a regular ritual. Davie fed the net out into the water and everyone lent their weight to the drag. As the net closed, a few pike swirled on the surface and confirmed our faith in the effort - IT BLOODY WORKED! Three sweeps and 4 hours later we had relocated 18 pike, around 200 perch and a handful of brown trout.

On the second day, efforts were hampered by a 3 hour delay as the net became snagged solid on the bottom. Ken Oliver, exhibited his talents as a swimmer and went down and untangled the net from a large rock - and was rightfully placed under a section of the Mental Health Act (Scotland) when he returned to the surface!

Arriving on Wednesday 21 June I was extremely proud to find the lads already drawing the first sweep. I had to take my son Jim (3 yrs) due to domestic chaos and was severely restricted in helping the lads. My initial fears, that exhaustion and filth would lower morale, were extinguished as another good night's work was completed by the team.

Saturday 24 June brought a low to the proceedings. John Wands and I, arrived to find the small dam draining into Balgray almost empty. In the small pool remaining, too shallow to float a dinghy, we could see a few pike and a lot of perch. Davie Holt, John Campbell and I, discovered that it was impossible to walk in the silt surrounding the pool, and a further 3 applications were made under the Mental Health Act (Scotland) as we crawled on all fours to spread our weight over the mud. Once in the pool, the numbers of fish trapped was realised - it was shocking! A total of 47 pike were successfully guddled - with no injury to the trio involved and the entertainment it provided for those waiting on terra firma could be heard for miles. However, the laughter was short lived as the sun beat down and brought an end to thousands of perch and roach. Innumerable perch were saved by our efforts along with many of the bigger roach and trout. However, by midday it was an awful sight, and everyone made their way across to Balgray to recommence the netting, in almost complete silence.

Wednesday 26 June was the final night. Everyone knew their place and position and we rolled into action as a team. The deepest water was around 5 ft and we were all confident! The first sweep was a good one but again drawing the fish to the silt bank created horrendous problems. Willie Colqhoun and John Campbell both went down to their waists and I ended up walking out of my waders - everyone was covered. Even the pike became temporarily engulfed but oddly enough there were few casualties - once transferred to containers and on the move the majority fully recovered. The last sweep of the evening was completed in darkness and it really was a brown trout bonanza - it was akin to sweeping a net through a trout farm. Everyone left at 11.45pm and wearily made their way home.

In total we managed to catch and relocate approximately 140 pike, 250 brown trout and hundreds of perch and roach. Indeed, the perch relocated probably run into thousands. The response from RA53 members and the St Winnoch AC in dealing with this crisis deserves praise as it is by far the most salient project of this nature to take place in Scotland. It is the first major action, of this type, taken to conserve pike angling which was not motivated by financial or commercial concerns. Ironically, the true significance and weight of the effort at Barrhead Dams was not the success of the numbers of fish saved but the fact that for once, in Scotland, a significant body of anglers reacted to adversity in their sport with a weapon stronger than apathy.

Special thanks to John Campbell, Willie Colqhoun and Wilma McDermid - between us we must have run up some incredible phone bills assessing and implementing a plan of action. John, in particular, managed to gain written permission for us to remove the fish and removed a major stumbling block from our path. Alan Armstrong managed to borrow a drag net from Willie Hutchison of Ardgowan Trout Fishery in Greenock - Willie could not have been more helpful and his generosity was much appreciated. Davie Holt provided everyone with enough confidence to wade knee deep in silt in treacherous conditions with what looked like 'a big net'. Indeed, Davie confesses that he never practised netting before - which made his contribution in sweeping the large expanse of water even more remarkable. Cheers also to Ken Oliver whose garden became a base for boats, nets and 101 pieces of equipment employed. Special thanks (for working like hell) to the following RA53 members: Grant Anderson, Alan Burgess, Andy Carson, Graham Kerr, Graham McDonald, John Wands and Jim Wardhaugh. Special thanks also to St Winnoch AC members involved: Donny McPhee, Colin and Graham Wright, George and Richard McLay, Frazer Murray, Kenny Meikle, Davie Lang, Jim Wright, Keith McIntosh, Ross McDonald, Colin Campbell and Graham Lightbody - many of St Winnoch AC lads are juniors and their contribution was outstanding! Thanks to both Rab Allison and Ian McVicar from the Scottish Carp Group and Alan Thomson from Barrhead Police. If I have missed anyone out - I sincerely apologise.

One of the disappointing aspects of the project was the gathering of pikers who fished continuously on one of the small dams into which many of the fish were being relocated. Not one lending a hand with the project - what can you say? Pike angling, in common with other forms of angling contains a percentage of 'vultures' who observe events like the Barrhead project from near and far - waiting to descend and reap the rewards of other peoples' toil. The parasitic relationship they share with pike angling is often one which they try hard to harbour. They spend too many miserable days in too many miserable swims - magnified significantly - when they get miserable congratulations for catching a few big pike.

Pike anglers who recognise the narrow nature of both the motive and achievement of 'the vultures' will rarely be deterred by their presence when conservation issues arise. Hence, Bill Little and I, will strive to instill an holistic approach to pike angling within our members, ethically our actions at Barrhead Dams may have been utilitarian but the survival of our sport is dependent on a more rounded understanding of our responsibilities and actions - acting for the common good of angling is fine, as is adopting intuitive principles in reaction to adversity in our sport. However, it is incumbent that 'truth telling' principles are introduced to new members entering our sport, and the truth is that fishing for pike may give you access to RA53 but I cannot emphasise enough that a wider understanding of our sport is encouraged and an active contribution to all aspects of pike angling is expected.

Indeed, it is perhaps time for all Scottish coarse anglers to assess their approach to fishing and recognise that the want of coarse angling conservation in Scotland cries out for compromise and co-operation in protecting our sport.

A federation or co-partnership of all coarse anglers will, in time, acknowledge the significant weight of nurturing an holistic approach within angling as opposed to placing all credence and credibility upon those who 'catch fish' with regularity. In evaluating what actually makes angling great or the great angler - it is the common denominator on which they both depend - 'conservation'. I realise that I may be preaching to the converted, however, the number of poor or mediocre venues in Scotland for coarse angling suggest that we have too few great anglers in our midst. If we could only all unite to reverse this trend. I realise the cynics, who scorn or pay lip service to the idealistic nature of promoting an ethos of this nature within coarse fishing, will be shaking their 'hirpling sticks' and hobbling on to the next venue with haste. Fishing to the death - quite literally.

It's time to lead by example and teach young anglers to recognise that the sport requires care as well as catches. Challenging and changing the mind sets of generations past and present is not beyond our grasp. These things take time, but wouldn't it be worthwhile to suspend the urgency to fish to the death and assist with the birth of a new optimism within our sport.